Family Feuds Genesis 13

Sermon Nuggets Mon May 21 -                                                                      

Verses: Gen 13: 1-4 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. ² Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

³ From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier ⁴ and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.

Family Feuds

            Many of you remember the game show called Family Feud. Richard Dawson lined up five members of a family which were teamed up against five members of another family to answer a question already given in a survey to 100 people. The object is to gain points and money by guessing the most popular answers to such questions as foods most commonly eaten at breakfast the time most people get up on Sunday morning. If you guessed an answer that wasn’t among the most popular the other team had a turn. Most had fun with it getting rich and working together on guesses supporting the family decisions.

            The most popular real family feud in America however was between two real warring families after the Civil war by the Hayfields and the McCoys. This Appalachian feud began over one clan accusing the other clan of stealing a hog. It intensified across the borders of Kentucky and West Virginia over timber rights, and one son impregnating another’s daughter without marrying her. It kept up for years involving bloodshed and killing of family members.

            There are many family feuds in the Bible. Sibling rivalry is common today as well as throughout history. It is sad to see how Satan can taken even Christian families and divide them due to disagreements on things that are so temporary.

Unfortunately as a pastor when I deal with grieving families and plan funerals bitterness begins with differing opinions on what should be part of the service. Siblings will hold strong opinions on things they want or do not want as part of their memory of a parent. I can guess afterwards when personal items are divided there will be more hostility because of greed and fairness as to whom gets what inheritances. I advise older people to make a will and even give away as much as possible before death to save their children from fighting. Even if the siblings agree it is often their spouses that will cause a ruckus.

 But this week I want to talk about a family feud as it relates to the faith journey of Abram and involves the clan of his nephew, Lot. From looking at this passage in the Bible we can address some stresses in relationships that need to be addressed for peace and love of God to rule.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues May 22-

Verses Gen 13: 5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

The Stress of Possessions

The feuds of the McCoys and Hatfields were over a hog and timber rights. The feud of the TV show is over money and giving the most popular answers. The feud over Lot’s side and Abrams side is enough pasture for the sheep and the cattle. They got so rich that sharing became a problem. It's interesting that the thing that caused the conflict between the two groups and the resulting parting of the ways was the abundance that Abraham and Lot had.

            Sometimes family feuds are over possessions. Especially difficult is the time when some dies and people fight over who gets what. The distribution of goods has caused more heartaches for people than anything else. Some people think the poorest family should be favored. Others the eldest, others the closest and who is the closest. Others determine what they think they should get by their personal interests. Others are very concerned for equality of value. And it usually means that whatever is left to distribute someone isn’t happy because they want what someone else has. Perhaps the worse story I heard was of a family standing around Mothers bed when she died in the hospital and as soon as she died, one daughter grabbed the diamond ring and another daughter ran after her out of the hospital leaving the grieving father by the bedside not only pondering the loss of his wife, but in a sense his daughters as well.

Jesus was asked to break up a fight among brothers regarding their inheritance and Jesus pointed them to something far more important that earthly goods. He didn’t want to be bothered.

 Abundance not only battles for our heart, it also complicates our lives. Think of how simple life was when you were younger. You didn't have to concern yourselves with payment plans, interest rates, insurance premiums, investment portfolios and estate planning. You didn't have to worry about maintenance schedules, current fashion trends, and keeping up to date on current trends and developments. Life was simple. Decisions were easier to make. Possessions affect us and others.

While Jesus walked on the earth he had little. When he sent his disciples out to minister he told them to take little. Jesus understood that the simple life was easier to manage. But living a simple life in our day is not all that simple. The list of basic essentials has grown.

           

Jealousy among family develops over who has the most money or the best car, or best job, or cabin by the lake. Many families do not find personal satisfaction in the relationship but in competition over possessions. Net worth or special items give many people some inner feeling of superiority.

           

Bible says do not put your treasures in things that lost, stolen or rot, but in heaven when there is eternal reward. Friends all this is temporary. Houses, treasures bank accounts do not last. It isn’t important what you have, as it is what you do with what you have.

           

Abram had faith in God. God was the possession that he valued. We see with Abram though he was rich his attention was not on who had the most herds, or nicest land, it was relationships. So he was willing to compromise and even give up his rights for something more important that family feuds over possessions.

             

I think this is the kind of life Paul was talking about when he said in 1 Timothy 6:6 Paul "godliness with contentment is great gain." Paul had learned to "be content in every circumstance." In other words, he had learned to stop running after what he didn't have . . . so that he could enjoy what he did have. Much of the stress and clutter in our life is caused by our discontent. We are making foolish choices and sometimes hurt or jealous feelings resulting in family feuds because we want something we don't have instead of being happy and grateful for what we do have. Find your contentment in God, not in possessions.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds May 23 

Verse: Gen 13:7  7 And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

The Stress of Prejudice

            The herdsmen fought over possessions and they talked about others living in the land. I don’t think it was only historical interest to pin point the location when it is mentioned they lived among the Canaanites and Perizzites. I think part of the reason it is mentioned is that you are living among people with different customs, different personalities, and different culture. Some of the people that were hired were also representing different clans and maybe even races. They had a different way of doing things. This competition inevitably led to conflict between the herdsmen of Lot and Abram. They were prejudiced against others that didn’t do things they way they did.

            I compliment our young foreign exchange students who leave their own country and traditions and familiar ways of their homeland and come with different personalities and different customs and all the changes and it isn’t always easy adjustments. They obviously question why we do things certain ways. At times they desire their own foods, clothing, and even conversation. It is not always easy to be in a land whose customs are strange from your background.

            There are also introverts, extraverts, people that are intellectual and others who are emotional, others who enjoy various styles of music, others differ on having a good time. You marry into families with different traditions and all that adjustment is part of a commitment to a relationship that expands your own world and personality beyond just the familiar to the unfamiliar but appreciated. That is a stress people have to face.

     Personalities and prejudices certainly play into family feuds. There are so many stories about families not getting along, especially in-laws because of personality differences. You are not going to be the same. You can pick your friends but you cannot pick your families. You can pick your spouse, but you cannot pick your spouses family. It has been said often, you don’t marry just your spouse; you marry their family. So now you do the best you can with the differences you have. Face them.  But likewise even within a family there can be prejudices based on what schools people go to, or if they serve in a different branch of the armed forces. They can hold prejudices that run deep on competition for things that are so temporary.

   

            I think it is great when in-laws can enjoy one another and get along. But there have been many family feuds over mothers and daughter-in-laws who have different personalities and can’t accept the fact that one person does things differently than another and it is okay.

        I saw an old episode of Touched by an Angel where some father had a family business but one son didn’t want to stay around and work as a mechanic. He wanted to enjoy the aesthetics of life, rather than working at a job that he found unfulfilling. He was ostracized by his family for not conforming and being part of the family business. He left home. Dad said, “Don’t come back until you are ready to come back for good.”

  He found a girl he loved and married and they were gong to have a baby and after six years he came home. It’s too long to tell the story but the father who was unwilling to forgive and accept his son discovered through the angel that his boy had cancer and wasn’t going to be around long.

       Reconcile before it is too late. Ask forgiveness, seek to make peace, be willing to put aside differences and personalities to concentrate on the more important things. Some parents are so busy trying to run their children’s lives after their adults they lose the relationship they can have and do have in common. Some families are filled with such insecurity they can’t let useless comments roll off their backs. 

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs May 24

Verses Gen 13:8,9   Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we're family. Look around. Isn't there plenty of land out there? Let's separate. If you go left, I'll go right; if you go right, I'll go left."

             

The Stress of Proximity

More than anything, Abram wanted to maintain peace and heal the strife which came between himself and Lot. The overriding principle is that of the unity. Strangely, though very practically, this unity is to be preserved by separation. Someone must leave, either Abram or Lot.  Of course, this was a breech of protocol. Abraham should have made the choice because of his seniority. But Abraham gave up his privilege and let his nephew choose

There is another thing mentioned. They were living close together and just needed to have something they could call their own. I call this stress of proximity, or closeness.

I have always admired the Waltons on TV where you have Mom and Dad and kids and grandparents all living under the same roof. Some cultures put a high value on the extended family. The Hmong culture, even living here in the US, has close attachments not only with their immediate family but all their cousins, Aunts, in-laws. The clan connections are very important.

A friend of ours works in the ER at St. Johns Hospital and in that community whenever someone from Hmong culture is admitted, they have to send the family to the lobby because everyone is expected to come. But in our culture living with combined families can produce tension. Having an elderly parent, or having an adult child or family come and live with you is not always easy. There are adjustments. I know when there is illness or for financial reasons people are commitment to making those adjustments, when if your own family is under a great deal of tension, if it affects a marriage or has ongoing adverse affect on the children, then change is needed. Separation of some sort is in order.

            Ben Franklin said, “fish and relatives smell after 3 days.” I think he has something to that. People enjoy one another for a time, but when they are around all the time, the relationship can wear thin fast. Our habits, interests, and priorities even in daily living can cause stress to build up and take time to make adjustments. If it has to be that is one thing, but if we have some choices in the matter breaks and time away can help people step back and re-evaluate as well as appreciate.

            What was the solution for Abram and Lot? It was simple. In order to make our relationship strong and maintain love for one another, separate. Visits are fine. We love you, but we see that living together for a long period of time just isn’t going to be good for either of us or we may no longer like each other, but become enemies.

            Parents, the Bible says, a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife and the two become one. Don’t continue parenting and interfering with your adult children’s lives, it generally does more harm than good. If you must live together let each provide a certain sense of privacy and autonomy. Talk over the things that need to be addressed and let go of the small stuff. But by all means renew your inner resources from all stresses by depending on prayer and wisdom from God. 

            Jesus often separated himself from his disciples for a reason. It wasn’t because he was mad at them or frustrated in living closely together, although his frustration did come from some of their misconceived ideas and attachment to the philosophy of the world and world’s religious ideas instead of God’s revealed truth. But what Jesus did in separation is to get in closer proximity with his Father through prayer and meditation. In the realm of Jesus there is peace and perspective. It is from that inner strength that one gets guidance and help. The relationships with others and with family start and continue in our relationships with God.

 Dr. H. A. Ironside told of an experience in his early life when his mother took him to a meeting where two Christian men almost came to blows over a disagreement. One man finally stood and pounded the desk and shouted, "I don't care what you do, but I will have my rights!" At that, an old brother in the Lord stood and said calmly, “Ah, brother, if you had your rights you'd be in hell! The Lord Jesus didn't come to get his rights -- he came to get his wrongs, and he got them." And with that the belligerent fellow  sat down, saying, "You're right, you're right, settle it any way you like." Soon there was perfect agreement. It was this same spirit that moved Abram to give Lot the first choice.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri May 25 – 

Verses Gen 13:10-18  10 Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. 11 Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east. 12 Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom. 13 The people of Sodom were evil - flagrant sinners against God. 14 After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, "Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. 15 Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. 16 I'll make your descendants like dust - counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. 17 So - on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I'm giving it all to you." 18 Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God.

The Stress of Priorities

            What we read in these verses is simply a difference of priority in their lives. Lot was enamored with his surroundings. He went to the city. Not that there is anything particularly wrong with cities- you just have more sinners congregating in tighter places. You deal with more crime, more congestion and all the urban problems of the world. But there are some of the worse stuff going on in rural areas and countries too. The heart needs a change.

            Lot picked what was selfishly desirable to dwell in and the word says he pitched his tent toward Sodom. Sodom is symbolic of among the worse of the sinful cities in that time. We still use the term sodomize and sodomites for sexual perversion. Lusts and out of control desires without God ordained boundaries did not make them free, but more bound. Lot has his eyes on the world, while Abram went and worshiped.

I think we can see Lot was asking the wrong questions. There is no record that Lot prayed for wisdom. There is no record that Lot asked what was best for his family. There is no record that Lot was concerned at all about what would best support the value system he held to. Instead, we seem to see that Lot was motivated by the lure of profit and excitement.

A priority in our busy lives is what God thinks is important. Selfish lives are narrow and unhappy and generally unfulfilling. The priorities of importance are times with relationships of family, friends, church, and with the Lord.

Abram dwelt among the oaks, meaning there was a separation that was right for him. Again it isn’t so much the location as the center of ones attention. Lot was where he was because he made his decisions without the direction or even desire of direction from God. Abram was where he was because he wanted God’s will and not his own.

           

We have stress in most of our relationships because of differing value systems, or priorities of life. Most of my fathers’ family were not believers, most of my mother’s family were. We did not have a lot in common with my dad’s side. They would drink, they would argue, they would gossip about one another, so we never got terribly close. When my mom’s side got together it was much more positive conversations and actions and love and cooperation.

           

With my dad’s family there were many feuds. People wouldn’t talk to others in the family because of some incidents they took personally and wouldn’t forgive. In my mothers side there were the same offenses but there was forgiveness, which was the basis of relationships. Herein is a priority that makes the difference.

As followers of Jesus Christ, our values are to be different from the rest of the world. Our primary concern is not profit or the amassing of things. Our purpose should be to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. If you want to make good decisions, ask the right questions. In every choice we must trust God’s providence.

We believe in God's prophecy because we believe He is in control of history and the events of history. We believe in prayer because we believe God has authority over the issues of life. We believe that God leads, guides, and directs. It's time to believe that in our decision making.

            What ought we to do? The Bible says as much as it is within you, live in peace. There is not a question that it takes two to make peace. The first to offer the peace is the believer and mature person. I don’t expect it of the immature or unbeliever, but with the grace of Christ there is the desires for reconciliation and love even when our rights and our persons have been attacked.

            I am not oblivious to many who come from backgrounds that are terrible dysfunctional and families that have been abusive to various degrees. Criminal behavior demands and results in consequences that are the result. Sometimes there are consequences of loss of freedom in jail or prison. Sometimes those consequences are loss of relationships throughout all of life. But those who find peace meet those experiences with the grace that comes within.

            I know that people who have been victims have had to give their burdens to Jesus and found freedom within in various degrees. Those who hang on to them generally become weights over which they never recover. Can you give up bitterness rage and anger as Eph 6 says? Not without the grace and love of Jesus to do so. Jesus on the cross said “Father forgive them they do not know what they are doing.” I am sure there are many a parent and grandparent that acted out of ways they did not know what they were doing. But they could do no different because it was not controlled by the spirit of God but self or even worse.

More than anything, Abram wanted to maintain peace and heal the strife which had come between himself and Lot. The overriding principle is that of the unity of brotherhood that must be preserved. Strangely, though very practically, this unity is to be preserved by separation. Someone must leave, either Abram or Lot  

            Let me mention in conclusion after God is in first place, keep the priority of family relationship with your mate first, our children, second, your parents third. Do not tolerate manipulation. Seek to deal with the issues rather than the emotion. Set down reasonable ground rules for your family and seek to be consistent. Do not cut off ties with family members if at all possible. Be friends, initiate visits be kind. You can behave lovingly even if you do not feel loving. It will help and encourage your spouse to make efforts to spend time with his/ or her family.

            If tensions arise do what Abram did. Keep visits short and interesting. But separate places to live. But seek Gods’ will for your life and His strength to face the things that need to be faced and to forgive and forget the things that do not matter.

Pastor Dale

Beginning a Spiritual Journey - Genesis 12

Sermon Nuggets Mon May 14  

Verses Gen 12

The Beginning of a Spiritual Journey

One summer I read the biography of Billy Graham. I always find it inspiring to see how God works in some people’s lives who demonstrate great faith and experience God’s blessing on their lives. Each person’s story is unique as God calls us to himself and then to follow him in various paths in their lives.

           

What is your spiritual journey like? I’m not talking about just a certain segment that seems spiritual, but the secular as well.  For instance, when someone goes on a short terms missions trip they are inclined to call that a spiritual journey. If someone is called into full time Christian service that might be looked upon as a spiritual journey. When someone is involved in a special ministry or periodically makes an important spiritual commitment that is only part of your spiritual journey.

Now I know in my life there are times when the Holy Spirit is more evident in decisions and guidance in my life than at other times. My call to follow Christ began my spiritual journey when in fact the Holy Spirit came into my heart by accepted Jesus Christ into my life. There were other times which were extra ordinary that some may have and others may not. I was called into full time Christian service. I have had the privilege of praying with people at the time of their conversion. I have seen significant decisions and commitment made at weddings, at births, as well as in the hospital and at crises times in people’s lives. It has been an incredible experience to walk with people on their journey and share the truth of the Bible, not everyone has that privilege.

But there are most other times in my life when the daily routine does not seem to have much divine guidance. If my car is on empty I don’t particularly have a time of prayer before the Lord asking if I should stop at the gas station. Going to the grocery store, although it should be a spiritual experience, I don’t consciously consider it such. I pick up what is on the list and what catches my eye and what is on sale and when the bagger at asks me, “paper or plastic”. I don’t see that as much of a spiritual journey.

But there are times when I am going about my daily chores, not my pastoral business, when the Lord will bring across my path someone with whom I speak, or a situation in which I sense his closeness that seems to me an intervention that this thing was planned all along by God.

A spiritual journey is frankly all of our life when God lives in us. There are a few times when we are called upon to act with faith, but most of the time we carry on our activities as He allows us to do with the common sense and personal interests and desires that seek to live our lives in obedience to Him. But if Christ is in my life my journey allows me to at times experience the closeness and experience the blessing of God and other times I am not aware that He is around, but He is. He is there when I sin. He is there when I resist temptation. He is with me all the time and even in the mundane activities of the day, whether it is doing the dishes or washing clothes, or making beds, or paying bills, and even coming to church that is part of our spiritual journey. The more we walk with God the more we are aware He wants all of our life in all areas to be of faith.

We introduce the life and journey of Abram today. God gave him the name Abraham later on, but the lessons of his beginning this journey of faith are also lessons we need on our spiritual journey.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues May 15 – 

Verses Gen 12:1-3 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2 “I will make you into a great nation,     and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,    and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,    and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth    will be blessed through you. ”

Our Journey is to involve Trust

Abram was living Haran after leaving the land of Ur. Technological developments began to abound during that time. We talked last week of the tower of Babel and since the people who spoke Egyptian migrated to that part of the country many years past when built pyramids, wrote literature, and expressing their culture and religious beliefs through art and music. The same was true in Mesopotamia. They were doing geometry long before the Greeks and Arabs. They knew how to construct the arch and the vault and the dome. They were doing things that we cannot do today, from an architectural standpoint. It was a highly complex, sophisticated, technological society. That, of course, corresponds closely with our age today.

But there was also a moral decline. Their literature shows that, as a people, morality was running rampant. In Canaan they had a degraded sort of cultic worship. There was sacred prostitution of both sexes and homosexuality that was culturally accepted, and most of their literature was frankly pornographic. There was also a terrible spirit of despair. God not only has preserved the Scriptures for us, but also has preserved secular writing so we can know what was going on in these times.

Now God wanted to do a new thing. He wanted to show His works through rising up a people whom he would bless as they demonstrated faith. He decided to choose Abram to begin. So he told him to “leave this land and go where I will show you.”  If you do as I say, I will bless you, great nation, great name, great people

D. L. Moody said: "Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment; trust in your friends, and they will die and leave you; but trust in God, and you will never be confounded in time or eternity."

What is this trust in the Lord like? For Abraham it meant to forsake what you know and have grown accustomed to, in order to receive something that you are not sure you are going to get, but are willing to chance it anyway. It is a step of faith to leave High School which you know as seniors all your life and begin a new life in college, or work, or marriage where there are unknowns. But the question kids ask is, “where is God in my life”  There are times when God has a unique plan and through various ways may let us know He is calling us to a spiritual journey.

Abram was quite comfortable in Ur of the Chaldeans. But it was a place without God.  God calls Abram to leave this place, there was no future here!  God wanted Abram to find a new environment where God give Abram an opportunity to show the world what a real living God can do compared to lifeless idols.

It had not been Abram seeking God, it was God who called to Abram to follow Him, to suddenly change what you believe in was a radical change; this is God's way for salvation!  Trust believes in a God that ultimately when that journey ends it is right and worth it, even though we do not know where it is going to lead.

God had great plans for Abraham, but it would not be easy for him and it is not always easy for us. It doesn't always mean a smooth ride, just a meaningful one! Trust gives us a perspective that God is in control and is worth following even during the hard times of life. To someone without faith in God their lives simply stumble forward, and they are always anxious about what may be around the next corner. To someone without faith there is no sense of meaning to life. There is no larger picture to existence.

When we read biographies like the life of Billy Graham, or the life of Abram we see how God works through the circumstances even when someone isn’t aware what is going on. We see how God works through our mistakes and sins. We know we are in the hands of God and there is blessing. Verses 1-3 relate the specific promises that God made to Abraham. God said to Abraham, "I will make you a great nation." That certainly has been fulfilled in the numerical growth of the nation of Israel. We have no way of knowing how many millions of Jews have been born since the day of Abraham, four thousand years ago--perhaps billions. There are at least twelve million Jews living today.

But I think God was referring also to the influence that the Jewish people would have on their world. They have been great not only in numbers, but in their impact. Someone told me that twelve percent of all Nobel prize winners were Jews. They have been poets, philosophers, scientists, kings, and warriors and have made a tremendously vital contribution to the world, wherever they have gone. Of course, through the Jewish people came our scriptures and our savior which was the most important of all. Jesus the Messiah came through the Jewish nation. So the Jews have truly made a great impact upon the world. This prophecy literally has been fulfilled. God made from Abraham a great nation.

As it also says in Galatians it was the faith that gave Abraham his blessing, and we are sons and daughters of Abraham also by our faith in Jesus Christ.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds May 16 

Verses Gen 12:4-6 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land. ” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Our Journey is to involve Obedience

Trust is the quality of believing God, but a close cousin must be obedience. He left Ur, as the Lord had told him. He brought with him his nephew and his wife Sarai and all his possessions.

We sing the song, “Trust and Obey there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” We realize there are people who say they have faith, and others who claim they have works, but the book of James tells us you do not have faith without works and works does you no good without faith.

Obedience is following God wherever he leads, and if he is not apparently leading then do what we know He wants us to do according to the word. Later in the book of Exodus we know that God physically and literally led the people of Israel out of Egypt with cloud during the day and pillar of fire at night. Don’t you wish God would lead you that way? There would be some heavenly sign so you know you were to go to his job, or this person to be your spouse, or this home to buy?

However, when that cloud and pillar stopped they stopped and when they stopped they went on with life taking care of kids, teaching and studying the law, packing cleaning, cooking, and raising sheep and cattle and fixing tents, they went about their regularly work as part of their journey call, not just when they were moving, and so when you are stopped it is part of the obedience to do what tasks are at hand as part of God’s will and direction for your life. If you have a job, stay at it as a means of supplying an honest wage to provide for you and your family, and the Lord’s work through your tithes.

If you have dirty clothes wash them, If you have a broken tent or house fix it. If you have school, study. If you find a person with similar faith in Jesus and you’ve prayed about asking God to direct you to someone as a special life partner, you seem compatible and love each other and desire to spend your lives together and other affirm that, take that as God’s approval. As you continue to talk and plan God has the power to break off the relationship before your marriage commitment. But after marriage commit yourself to that person for life. If it doesn’t seem right, wait.

We call this the "one step at a time" moment -- one day at a time, one place at a time, and one thing at a time. Abram does not know the answer to the "where" question. He had no idea where God was leading him. He just trusted Him. He only knew "who" he was following, and that was enough for him.

Such great faith however also has great rewards when we are obedient to what we know God’s word says and how his spirit leads when God’s word does not specifically say as we pray and offer ourselves to His disposal.

One of the men from our church was telling me that he got up in the morning and asked the Lord what He had in mind for him to do today.  His life was willing to serve. Not long after that someone called and needed help. “Thank you Lord” was his prayer.
           

Abram's obedience brought him to the place called the "promise land", but remember while it was a "promise land" it was still full of Canaanites!  Trusting and obeying isn’t a one time experience. You can't just get "saved" and then sit back and not live for the Lord the rest of your life. Real faith has real obedience every day of our lives!

 Many Americans are willing to believe in God and go to church, but obeying God and living by His standards rather than our own is the tough part of our faith journey

God wants far more from us than just knowledge. He wants us to allow Him to work out His mighty acts and through us together to show the world that He is real!  Imagine Abram telling his family that a new God had spoken to him, one that they have never heard of before and asked him to take his family and start traveling toward a land none of them had ever been to before, without really knowing what life was going to be like even during the trip!

Abram could have stayed in, but his name today would be unheard of, or he could obey by faith and watch God do something through his life that would last for eternity!

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs May 17 –

Gen 12:7-9 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land. ” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Our Journey is to involve Worship

Now what happened when Abram arrived to the land to the place of Shechem, to the land of the Canaanites- this Promised land? He has a worship experience through witness and prayer. I appears at the time of Moses the people could see the tree of Moreh at Shechem and said this is the place where Abram and God talked. This was the place of prayer and communication with God. And prayer, this two way conversation with God and Abram, isn’t all recorded but some of it is. But what we know is the Lord appeared to Abram and told him he had arrived. This land is where your offspring will settle.

Abram prays and worships by building an altar part as a personal expression of thanksgiving, as well as public monument to the work of God and the relationship of God in his life. It involved sacrifice of an animal, or more. Abram travels throughout the land, east, west, south and north he is checking out what will one day be his and his offspring.

 

Yet, during Abram's lifetime he owned very little of this territory, only a small area used for a burial plot. Once he had arrived, God had not only "showed him the land" but now promises to "give his offspring the land". It no doubt involved Lot and Sarai and servants. It was a means of sharing a testimony about the work of the Lord.

It’s like sharing our personal testimony-- to tell others who we were before, where we have been, what we now know, and how are we different.

I was reading about one church that practiced what they called. a thanksgiving gathering. I was impressed with the idea. We have a testimony time at Thanksgiving and New Years of events that people want to share. We have a sharing time, often in Sunday School and at others times when people want to praise God for what he has done.

     

A thanksgiving gathering was usually a one-time home fellowship where the hosts invited their friends, relatives and church members to share in the blessings of a special event. A thanksgiving gathering was usually a one-time home fellowship where the hosts invited their friends, relatives and church members to share in the blessings of a special event. Often within a home they would sing, followed by the host’s testimony about how God had blessed the family, and a short devotional by the pastor or one of the leaders. Then they would fellowship around refreshments

            I had been invited to a home of a couple who moved in to a new home. It was a time of thanksgiving. There were also a number of people were invited to the home for dedication, prayer, and thanksgiving testimony of the way God worked in their lives and how they got their new home. Maybe that idea will catch on more.

            God called this man Abrab into a relationship with himself, called him out of a civilization just like ours, just as decadent, just as complicated, just as difficult to live in. He called him out of that environment, called him into a relationship with him. And there was a thanksgiving gathering of prayer and worship and testimony.

Now the expression, "calling on the name of the Lord" does not mean merely prayer, or even worship. It was also a means of testimony to the people of Canaan. Abraham demonstrated and witnessed as a public example his trust and obedience in God He would commune personally with His creator. That was something the people did not do personally with their gods. They would try to appease them and sacrifice to them, and priests would go through rituals, but there was no personal communication, for there was no true God, but the one creator of heaven and earth.

In your faith journey how is your daily walk with God? I don’t know how people can grow in their faith unless they spend personal time in the Bible and in prayer. Then to live out your faith among your neighbors. To pray without ceasing is like saying, “Good morning Lord,” as you get up in the day and “Good night Lord”, as you go to bed, conscious of the fact that He is involved in all of your life, secular and sacred. Is your life open to let Him surprise you and lead you and use you, and even if it is with struggle or heart ache that you will trust that He will see you through? For Abram it meant living out, through his life and through his word, the relationship that he had with his God.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets- Fri May 18- 

Verses Gen 12:10-20 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

17 But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Our Journey is to involve Truth

Most Christian biographies skip the parts after someone becomes a believer where they have sin and struggles in their lives. I am glad the Bible is honest and tells it like it is. I am glad this part is included in Abram’s spiritual journey.  Even though Abraham obeys and has a personal relationship with God in prayer and worship and testimony, there are times when he falls short and sin prevails. That is true in my life and yours as well. God does not dismiss him as unworthy to be used. God does not take away his promises. God does not reject him forever. There is a correction and path back that God uses in his life. And you will see him fail and fall again. But that gives me hope.

The book ‘The Day America Told the Truth’ says that 91 percent of those surveyed lie routinely about matters they consider trivial, and 36 percent lie about important matters. 80 percent lie regularly to parents, 75 percent to friends, 73 percent to siblings, and 69 percent to spouses.

A psychologist at the University of Virginia, Bella D. Paulo, did a 1996 study of 147 people between 18-71 who were asked to keep a diary of all falsehoods told over a week. He found that most people lie once or twice a day. Lies do not stop. While 1 in 7 instances of lying were discovered, more than 70% of liars surveyed said they would tell their lies again.

The fact that Abram said Sarai was his sister can be explained in a literal sense that he did not lie because in fact she was a relative, technically, yes. In truth, she was his sister from a different mother (20:12). Sarai was not only Abram’s sister, but also his wife. But since a lie is a purposeful deception Abram is guilty because he was deceiving not an act of faith, but fear.  Abram did not trust God, he trusted himself. He did not obey going to Egypt He was not sent there, but rather went because of the circumstances that surrounded him. He purposely deceived the people and allowed the Pharoah to take his wife, which is also against any marriage vow and did it to save his own neck.

The first big test for Abram came in the form of a famine. He panicked, and took shelter in Egypt because it had a better economy.

Abraham was bombarded with three separate questions: What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife?

All history is moving toward an appointed end that God has decreed. And all these things are for the purpose of saving those who have found a relationship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ, through faith. We don't live for just the temporary things of this world, we live by faith that God has a great future in store for all those who continue to have faith in Him. It is hard to convince unbelievers of this future reality, but whether they believe or not won't change the fact that it is true!  The call that God has for us is to live faithful to truth, in spite of the circumstances, or even the dangers.

Our faith journey is going to be confronted with the truth of God or the lies of Satan. Satan will deceive us and make us think that God’s ways are not best. He will want us to trust our feelings instead of his truth. That’s what God Abram into trouble and Satan delights in that.

Oswald Chambers said, “The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”

The lies of the world are to be selfish and save your own neck. The lies of the world is use other people for your own purposes, the lies of the world are to acquire riches at others expenses. You might consider that that next time you want to go to the casino. It is taking other peoples losses for selfish greed and gain.

But truth is not believing the lies, but following God and his word. And Abram learned the lesson and came back where he left God to Negev. And once again we will see that he calls upon the name of the Lord and back in a relationship is based on faith.

Maybe this day on your spiritual journey you need to come back to the Lord where you left him. Not going your way, but His way in your life. For soon or later, there is blessing that the world cannot give. The journey is exciting and unique for each of us. But it begins with trust, obeying up your life to let Jesus lead, It responds in obedience, in a devotional prayer and communication, and lastly in truth.

Pastor Dale

Birth of Nations - Genesis 10, 11

Sermon Nuggets Mon May 7 -            

Verses – Gen 10 - This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.

The Japhethites;  The Hamites  The Semites

³² These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood

The Birth of Nations

            We have been studying how  Noah and his family were saved while the rest of the world was destroyed in God's just judgment. When the flood was over, Noah presented an offering to the Lord. God was pleased and made a promise to Noah, "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood." (8:21) And then God gave Noah (and us) a rainbow which was to always serve as a reminder of God's promise.

            The flood is over. The ground has dried. But the problem remains. God still says that "every inclination of man's heart is evil from childhood." He does not say this in the past tense . . . it is present tense. The idea that mankind is basically good, or born innocent, is something that is never supported in Scripture. God had punished the world because they revolted against righteousness

            Beginning with chapter 10 we have recorded the descendents of the three sons of Noah- Ham, Shem, and Jepheth.  Genesis again demonstrates the birth of the nations as revealed through the story of the tower of Babel in the next chapter. But the records of the Bible want us to understand how with the long years and the blessings of the Lord people begin to populate the earth and seemingly divide up according to clans.

            The events in chapter 10 and 11 are significant because it helps explain the beginning of nations as a further result of sin. I am troubled how quickly mankind moves toward evil against their fellow man. I am appalled how quickly nations rise up against nations and how pride and power is at odds from the smallest of tribes to the largest. Prejudice and hatred keep creeping in the most unlikely spots. Why racial tension continues within churches and ethnic superiority is practiced among Christians is still to our shame.

            I am taken back when white Christians use such offensive terms as' nigger'. I can’t understand it when I am in Russia how among some believers showed discrimination against the Ukrainians. When exploring the opportunity to teach in Ukraine I was not prepared for the question why I would even considered teaching in Russia. It was as if I had to pick one country or the other.  Jewish Christians and Arab Christians have much to get over to love one another.

Of course the work of God in our lives does break down the barriers. It is indeed the will of God that we be a family of God by faith and not divided up by race, or nationality. But even among those born again Christians they were tolerance but sometimes little love. I think we can and should recognize differences, but also promote what causes unity..

             Even when there is a rebirth of the world, the heart needs changing. Even with a second change the world doesn’t take long to degrade back into sinful ways. That is the story of mankind.

But look at our own lives. Many are given a second chance and they go back to their old ways. God gave mankind a second chance. Not that they started back with the Garden of Eden, not that they were without sin like they were in paradise, rather they could begin anew with sinful natures to teach the truths of God and the horrible destruction of the world by flood.  We need changed hearts. We need a Savior.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues May 8 

Gen 11:  Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinarand settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel —because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The Cause of Disorder - Man’s pride.

As the genealogies are listed in the latter part of this chapter we see how theses nations from Ham, Shem, and Jepheth’s lines began. Since the whole earth had one language and one speech God brought confusion when people groups could no longer understand one another.

The act of building a tower at Babel was not the sin. Sky scrappers are not the sin against God. Eventually we have built buildings that reach the heavens. I’ve been to the top of the IDS building in Minneapolis, as well as the World Trade Center in New York City and we tried to get to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago, still the tallest. The building in and of itself was not the issue. As usual, the Bible gives us the very answer to our question. What sin did they commit? V. 4 They pursued personal greatness. The act of building Babel was not the sin but constructing the tower to declare their own greatness was their downfall. Notice the pronouns. “Come let us.  Build ourselves and city so we may make a name for ourselves.

They were trying to make a name for themselves. They were looking for fame. They wanted the glory instead of God. That pride is the center of most sin. That was what Satan centered in on with Eve and Adam. You will be like God if you eat this fruit. That was the sin that caused the fall of Lucifer from heaven. He was angel of beauty who wanted to be like God and even surpass him.

Pride is at the core to rebel in many ways against God. Stuart Biscoe passed on the story of a man who was so humble said, “don’t bother opening the door, I’ll just slide underneath.”

  When he did he looked and stood up and said, “Did you see that?”

In our society when sports figures make such astounding salaries for playing a game. When university basketball stars can think they do not have to go to class like everyone else, and when you don’t play up to my pride I will show you I don’t need you. I’ll go to the NBA and make millions of dollars. When presidents, governors, or policemen think they are above the law it all stems from pride. “I am better than the rest.” That is the beginning of destruction, disunity and downfall.

CS Lewis writes. “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or cleaver, or good looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better looking than others. It is in the comparison that makes you proud- the pleasure of being above the rest. Nearly all those evils which people put down to greed or selfishness are really far more the result of pride.”

Pride is the enmity against God. As long as you are proud, you cannot know God. Wherever we find that our religious life is making us feel that we are better than someone else, we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by our pride.      

I am reminded of the story of the frog that died because of pride. The birds were preparing to go south for the winter. The frog thought he’d like to escape winter go with them. He came up with a plan. He asked the neighbor geese if they would hook a stick around their feet between two of them and he would hold on in the middle with his mouth and they could carry him south. The plan worked fine until they were going by another flock of birds who said, “What a marvelous idea, who ever thought of something as brilliant as that?” Trying to answer, the frog plunged to his death.

Pride comes in many forms but has only one end: Destruction. The people in the land of Shinar sought to become famous by building a magnificent city and tower. Their ambitions consume them.

If we were to put on a seminar for corporate executives, managers, and secular leaders wouldn’t the efforts of the people of Babylon show successful characteristics?  Greatness, Glory, and Unity would serve as a great outline to a motivational talk. Be number one. Up to this point every significant building or creation project had been either orchestrated by God or carried out by God ... to bring himself glory. At the core of our rebellion is the pride of mankind.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds May 9 

Verses- Gen 11: 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them

Cause of Disorder- Man’s Accomplishments

In addition to the pride of mankind, there is another way it which it is displayed. It is the misconception we are in charge. They believed they could do what no one else could do. They would build a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens. We can do it. We’re number one. Pride is often displayed in the power of mankind. What is it that man cannot accomplish or set his heart out to do? They wanted to reach to the heavens, to be famous, to control their future destiny. They wanted to be like God, and they used their skill and know how to do it.

Baked bricks and tar were the keys to their fame and future. They wanted to use hard brick and tar, rather than stone and mortar. They used what was believed to be a more advanced technology of firing bricks in kilns to make them harder and more durable. They also made them larger (up to a foot square) and flatter in order to support more weight than an ordinary brick. That was advanced technology.

That is much the way people today speak of computers, the internet, cell phones, and entertainment technology. The story of the Titanic is about man's misplaced trust in his own inventions and ingenuity. "Not even God can sink Titanic," they said at the start of the voyage. So confident were they, they didn't even carry a full load of life rafts. The latest technology assured them that the ship was unsinkable. And yet, ironically, the very technology that made Titanic "unsinkable," speeded her sinking.

           

            Now there's nothing wrong with technology, per se, just as there is nothing wrong with baked bricks, tar, and tall towers. It's what we do with them and why we build them. When our faith, hope, and trust is in our tools, when we use our technology to reach up to heavens, to amass fame and fortune, to seize control our destiny and shake our fist at God, then we are guilty of misplaced power.
           

This tower is sort of an architectural symbol, a means for them to assert their greatness. If men were allowed to build this city, despite the many obstacles, then men would erroneously conclude that they could do anything they set their minds to. A bit of that mentality was evidenced when man first set foot on the moon. If you recall what was said, "One small step for man, one giant step for mankind." When man's ingenuity was successfully employed to overcome the many barriers to reaching the moon's surface, man felt that no problem was beyond human solution.

           

We don’t have to look far to see how things promoted to be the answer doesn’t match up to the hype. Everything has a glitch in it. A rocket gets lost. A computer is hacked. A reactor melts down. Oil spills. I think God has a sense of humor when it comes to showing man how really powerful and great he is. And then laughs when he brings him down to humility.
           

We tend to think that the work of our hands will assure us of some kind of immortality beyond the grave. They not only wanted the largest city with the highest tower... they wanted it to last a long time.. Such power causes disorder.

God had a plan. Since they forgot about God as they made their plans, it is no surprise that the Lord's plans are a bit different from theirs. Look at what they were trying to do. to sidestep God's instructions and not "be scattered over the face of the earth" as God commanded. Man’s plans were to build a monument "to themselves" (they were seeking to be honored and revered by others . . . a right that is God's alone) to reach to the heavens.

The problem in Babel is the problem in our day. It is essentially a belief which ignores God. It claims man’s greatness, not God, is the most important part of the universe. We, as humans, determine our own morals. We get to decide what is right and what is wrong. Instead of looking to God for those standards, we use reason and experience to determine what is moral and what is not.

It is arrogant, foolish and even blasphemous for human beings to claim they can control their own destiny apart from God. We have gotten so used to listening to secularist propaganda, that even many Christians have unknowingly bought into some of the deceptions.

So what was God's response?  Vs 7 Come let us go down. He confused language. Boy did he ever! Today there are over 3,000 languages and dialects. That ceased the building project and scattered the people He altered everything they were planning. Their disobedience went against God's plan.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs May 10

Verses- Gen 11: 8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel —because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.        

God’s Cure includes God’s Will     

            Man’s plans is not God’s will. God’s will for the race was to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it.  They had a different plan and that was to unite and stay together. So judgment fell and to insure they would spread around, language was used to divide people into groups so they wandered off with people they understood and formed their own people groups. This was the birth of nations. Chapter 10 is an explanation 

It was God’s will to have Christians go throughout the world. They didn’t want to do it in the book of Acts, so God also caused a great persecution to occur so people of the world could hear the good news, and what happened? Christians were scattered. It is always best to follow God’s will, because one way or another He does get it accomplished. Sooner or later it happens.

The people wanted to make a name for themselves. They want to accomplish something of which they can be proud. But God has another plan. Oh, yes, He lets them make a name for themselves: "Babel." Throughout history it will be a name synonymous with failure. Rather than becoming famous, these people become infamous.

Everything backfires at Babel, but that's no surprise. Human beings are no match for God. When there are conflicts between God's plans and man's plans, it doesn't take a genius to figure out who is going to win. Human beings versus God is an even greater mismatch. Even if our entire race pooled all of its power, wealth, wisdom and weapons, we would still be no match for God.

Psalm 2:2,4 The kings of the earth take stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”

 That is still true today. Stealth bombers, super computers and laser weapons don't change the equation one bit. God is God. We are not. He alone is the Lord and sovereign of the universe.

The lesson from Babel is that man is not God. God is God. If that's true, it is then foolish to ignore the Lord while making plans and living life. We cannot be independent of God. Our plans will always fail unless they are consistent with His will. We are no match for God.

Now God’s will is order in a way that may surprise you. Acts 2 talks about the order and unity. Notice at Pentecost where there is many languages there is one message. Do you know what it is? It is the gospel! In the gospel there is no language barrier. In this coming of the Holy Spirit God has another plan. It is to populate heaven and 3,000 people were added that day alone. God’s will is to bring righteousness and forgiveness to mankind. That happens through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and the infilling of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

God is seen in both the story of Babel and Penticost accomplishing His will and yet in one passage He is dispersing and in the other gathering. God does the same in the church.

Sometimes when men fight for power, he scatters. Others times he blesses and gathers. Sometimes when men want their plans, he scatters; seek God’s will he gathers. The will of God is always revealed in the word and the principles of it. Obedience is key.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri May 11

Verses Gen 11:1-9

God’s Cure includes God’s Ways

God’s ways are not always man’s ways.  Our technologies can't save us. Our tools and toys can't bring us to heaven; they can't secure our destinies. Only God can do that. On He can reach down to us to help us, to save us. The work of God is the cross.

Jesus came to redeem us. He empowered his followers to make disciples of all nations by means of baptizing and teaching. It was certainly the work of God at Pentecost. Nothing like that is man’s power or plan or procedure. Thousands of people were baptized and taught in their own language. Now we have a new birth in the nations. It is a spiritual birth. People representing the nations of the world, repented and were baptized. They turned from sin to Christ, from unbelief to faith, from despair to hope, from death to life. .

I remember listening to a speaker a number of years ago who asked  “If God were to remove His Holy Spirit from the earth, would your church be any different? He pointed out that a lot of things we do as Christians, a lot of things we do in church, could probably be done without God's help. We could still have services, we could still sing hymns, we could still have potluck dinners, and sports teams. We could carry on with teaching the Bible and we could all still be nice to each other. We can sing songs of praise, but without God it is not worship. We can be Minnesota nice to each other, but without God it is not fellowship. I can preach heart-warming and thought-provoking sermons, but without God they will never provide nurture for our souls

           

My fear is that sometimes even when we do church, we kind of leave God out. We do things a certain way not because it is what the Lord is calling us to do, but because  everyone else is doing it this way. Or because we have always done it this way. Or because more people will come to our church if we do this.

            As we look and plan for the future how do we protect from the tools that help in evaluation and yet feel confident it is God’s leading and not man’s plan? What protects us from programs that might be like man made towers up to God to make a name for ourselves? It doesn’t mean a thing if it isn’t he work of God in our lives, and we desire to follow Him. Prayer and the Word become our corrective guidelines, not to mention obedience to the Spirit.

But it is not just churches which sometimes try to be independent of God. We do it as individuals too, and there are lots of "independent Christians" around. Do you live your life wanting God’s work in it, or your own decisions?

Ps 127:1-5 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-- for he grants sleep to those he loves.

     

            There will come a time when united with believers of all nations will understand one another. Revelation 5:9 “And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.” There is a global activity that God approves of: Worship in the name of Jesus. Many languages but one song. We will all understand. God's passion and desire is to gather the nations, not around a tower made of bricks and tar, but around the cross of His Son and His sacrifice. Many languages recognize that He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. All of creation is made to reflect the glory of God, not the genius of mankind. The praises of the most high is delight to Him and blessing to us. Not going through motions or emotions, but founded on the faith with hearts loving God.

            There is one Lord Jesus Christ crucified for our sin and raised for our eternal life, whether He is proclaimed in Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese. Many languages, but one Holy Spirit, one Baptism, one Lord's Supper, one forgiveness, one salvation from sin and death. Luke tells us that the early church "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the Breaking of the Bread and to the prayers." Doctrine, fellowship, the Lord's Supper, and prayer in many languages by one Church in the name of Jesus.

            Are you trusting your own ingenuity, ability and wisdom instead of the Lord? Is there pride that refuses to humble itself before God. Do you live your life for yourself with your plans and wants? Whatever it is, my friend, it is a tower that is leading to no where. When you get to the top you will discover that the ladder was placed on the wrong building! It is only as we trust in Christ that we will find what the people of Babylon and the people of every age has been looking for. It is only in the person of Jesus that we can find forgiveness for our sin. That is the cure of Order.

  Every time you hear someone talking in a foreign language remember that these languages came about because mankind refused to acknowledge God. Every time you see a tall building, think of the foolishness of those who try to "reach to Heaven" Every time you see some great achievement, or hear of some award man has won, let it remind you to put it into perspective the greatest deeds of men cannot compare to the greatness of our God. Who alone has power and authority and majesty forever and ever?

Pastor Dale